


A True Knight

by Ashesintheair



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:10:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashesintheair/pseuds/Ashesintheair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night of foolishness and now Jaime wants Oathkeeper back. Of course, now he wants to leave, Brienne tells herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A True Knight

Brienne awoke to a grey sky and a deep well of uncertainty. It was not regret, not yet anyway, But she didn’t know what to do, so she lay awake, staring up at the clouds, her cheeks burning at the weight of Jaime Lannister’s arm across the thick barrel of her chest.  


She didn’t need to twist her head to know that he was still asleep - the low, rumbling snore told her that much. Eventually the urge to find a more familiar situation grew too much and she rolled away, pulling a tunic quickly over her head.  


Once she was clothed, she felt more in control and her hand closed around the hilt of her sword. Training exercises were another way to gain a measure of control, a way not to think. She fell into a rhythm and the blankness was a comfort a world away from the riot of emotion that had raced through her not so long ago.  


A hand caught her arm and she spun, blade swinging ready to cut through them as if she were felling a tree. She checked herself and stopped in time.  


"Jaime! I could have…"  


He shrugged, unconcerned, and held his hand out. “Give me the sword.”  


Brienne hesitated. He was clothed - she had been too wrapped up in trying not to think to hear a sound from him - and now he wanted Oathkeeper. He was getting ready to leave. She had half-expected it. Things had been said, but men had said things to her before. She clung stubbornly to the sword.  


"You said I should keep it."  


"Just give it here!"  


You’re exactly what he always called you. A stupid, silly, stubborn wench who let her head get turned by false words and pretty promises. And now who will help Sansa Stark?She brushed a leather-clad arm angrily at her face, at her eyes.  
Jaime stared at her in horror. Tears from another woman he might have been able to deal with, but tears from Brienne were beyond the pale.  


"Take it then," she muttered, thrusting the hilt at him roughly.  


He started to realise then what this might be about. “Why do you always have to misunderstand everything? Do you do it deliberately? Do you like an argument?” He sighed and took Oathkeeper. There was no room for her to respond before he continued. “On your knees, Brienne of Tarth.”  


"I don’t under-"  


"For once, just do as I ask, without assuming the worst."  


She did as he bid, but her eyes were still wary, still unsure. Jaime seemed to have come through irritation to amusement, and wore a grin. It unsettled her. And yet part of her insisted that this wasn’t a joke at her expense, that Jaime wouldn’t do that.  


"For great deeds in the field, for valor and courage, for services to the king…" he paused. "Perhaps not services to the king, we can leave that part out." He touched the blade to her shoulder and she shivered, realising at last what he was about. "I name you Ser Brienne of Tarth."  


He leaned and kissed her unprotesting mouth, and offered a hand as she struggled to her feet.  


"It isn’t permitted for a woman," she began.  


"I can make a knight. No one has ever told me who I can’t knight. And I get precious little pleasure from being the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, so grant me this much. I should have done it a long time ago."  


She threw one arm around him in the most uninhibited gesture of her life. She didn’t know how they had got to this terrible precipice of trust and love and all the things that lay beyond, but they were there nonetheless. And for the first time, she truely believed that he was right there with her, would stay there with her.  


"It isn’t exactly exulted company - it’s a pity I can’t unmake a few knights," he muttered into her hair. "The Seven know you’re the only true knight Westeros has got."


End file.
